• Podcasters' Revolution Found Wanting
    Podcasting was supposed to be a revolution in the way we consume radio-like content, but according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, this revolution is either a nonstarter, or it's taking its sweet time to pick up steam. A poll of nearly 3,000 adults said that roughly 12% of Internet users have downloaded podcasts. While that number is up 7% from earlier this year, most respondents reported downloading podcasts in order to sample shows, rather than being regular subscribers. Just 1% of respondents reported downloading podcasts on a particular day. A March report from …
  • In-Text Is In Style
    In-text advertising has quietly found its way into the publishing mainstream without generating much controversy. This would have never happened a few years ago, when the backlash over spyware/adware, spam and pop-up ads was coming to a boil. But now, its pretty standard to read an article at a site like FoxNews.com and see several words underlined which display text ads for other Web sites when you scroll over them. The appearance of in-text in publications belonging to the likes of News Corp., Cox Enterprises and Hearst Corp. represents a significant departure from the long-observed print tradition of …
  • IAC Joins The S&P 500
    Nine months after Google's entry, IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Web conglomerate owned by media mogul Barry Diller, is set to join the Standard & Poor's 500 Index after trading closes on Thursday. The S&P 500 is one of the major indices tracked by portfolio managers; it's rise and fall is often used to gauge the health of the economy. IAC, with its stock share up 25% this year, has dozens of Web properties from a variety of e-business sectors, including retail (Ticketmaster.com), financial services (LendingTree.com), search (Citysearch.com and Ask.com) and online dating (Match.com). Its secret is pooling revenue from a …
  • Record Sales, Traffic For Cyber Monday
    "Cyber Monday" turned in record numbers after all. Maybe people bought into the hype (and the Web-wide holiday sales). Or maybe yesterday's strong sales simply indicate a healthy year ahead for online shopping. ComScore Networks, which tracks Web traffic, expects Cyber Monday's online sales to hit around $600 million this year, a 24% jump over last year. Meanwhile, comScore said more people eschewed long lines at malls on Black Friday, spending $434 million online, a 42% increase from last year. Overall, consumers have spent $8.31 billion in nontravel purchases on the Web since Nov. 1, the firm said, …
  • 'Hactivist' Program Seeks To Open Web To Censored Countries
    They call themselves "hactivists"--political-minded computer wiz's who hack for a cause. But hactivists at the University of Toronto may have opened one hell of a Pandora's Box after creating the most advanced--and simplest to use--tool to let Web uses circumvent government censorship on the Web. Of course, in this country, we don't have that problem (or do we?), but around the globe, Web censorship is standard in places like China, Myanmar, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam. The new program, psiphon (SY-fon), will be released Dec. 1; its creators are hoping that Web users in those countries will download it …
  • Copyright Trouble Persists Overseas For Google
    Google's under pressure overseas: in France, filmmakers are suing the company over the illegal appearance of their documentary about the Bush administration on Google Video, while a French news agency has ordered the removal of its links from Google News. In Italy, investigators want to know how the search giant allowed video of Italian teenagers beating up an autistic kid to surface on the same video site. And in Belgium, news reporters and photojournalists want compensation for the way Google News links to their news stories and displays their images. With regard to the last case, there's been some …
  • Break.com Paying $400 Per UGV Clip
    Break.com, one player in a teeming pool of user-generated video sites, has upped the compensation ante for UGV directors by announcing that it will pay $400 for video and $2,000 for animated content. Break.com, unlike rivals such as YouTube and Google Video, has actually always paid its users for providing content. Back in January 2005, it started paying $50 per video, and then raised its price to $250 before Sunday's new hike. Revver, BlipTV and iFilm are other video providers looking to lure better content and a more discerning audience by paying users to upload their stuff. However, …
  • Wal-Mart's Web Plan: Make Up For Lost Time On Black Friday
    While retailers across the country reported strong holiday sales on Black Friday, Wal-Mart--usually the retail industry bellwether--said it expected same-store sales to drop 0.1 percent this November versus last year after lower-than-expected sales on Friday. However, the retail giant is maintaining its holiday price-slashing strategy by celebrating "Cyber Monday" (er, today) with an online shopping sales blitz that lasts all week. "Cyber Monday" is believed to be one of the busiest online sales days of the year, although a recent study from MasterCard said it was only the ninth-busiest online shopping day last year. Prices will be marked down …
  • Nintendo's PS3 Killer Receives Rave Reviews
    The early results are in--and so far, things aren't looking so good for Sony and its expensive PlayStation 3. Aside from the enormous manufacturing costs, from which Sony stands to lose some $300 per system, even fewer PS3's were produced and shipped by last Friday's release than Sony anticipated. What's worse is the great reviews Nintendo is receiving for its innovative new game system--which retails for some $250 less than the PS3--the Wii. Sure, its graphics and technology aren't up to snuff with Sony or Microsoft's Xbox 360, but the Wii is going after something bigger than the …
  • French Film Company Sues Google
    Google is having legal problems again. Flach Film, the French company that produced "The World According to Bush"--a two-hour film that investigates the President's administration--is suing the search giant for damages after the film surfaced on Google Video and was made available for free. On Thursday, the production house said it had issued a writ against Google and Google France for copyright infringement before a Paris commercial court. In its statement, Flach Film warned the court that Google--which is seeking a legitimate solution to online video piracy--and others are preventing the advent of a legal video market by …
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